


Cautery

by ryfkah



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-27
Updated: 2011-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-15 23:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/166093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryfkah/pseuds/ryfkah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anonymity is a reward that he's not sure he wants anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cautery

Some of the refugees trickling back into Ishval might have recognized his face, once. Anonymity is a reward that he's not sure he wants anymore. He's ready to give his name to the first person who asks: he no longer wants to die, but he's still not convinced that the decision should be his to make.

He opens his mouth, but Scar, for once, speaks first. "He's a doctor."

The tone of his voice makes further questions impossible. The woman who asked looks at her companion, bent over with rickets, and shrugs; many of the people returning to this broken land have stories they wish to forget. As identifiers go, "Doctor" serves the purpose as well as a name would. They’ll use it, going forward.

"Why?" he asks, later. "Whatever happened, it would have been their right."

He can read Scar's face, immobile as it generally is, tolerably well by now. Scar doesn't disagree. But he says, "My country needs a doctor more than a scapegoat."

It may not be Scar's choice to make for the people of Ishval, but it's far more Scar's than his own. It will do.


End file.
